Acting Zifa Vice President Philimon Machana says the association was fleeced of thousands of dollars by scammers in the final Afcon Qualifier against Congo at National Sports Stadium last month.

Zifa reported a deficit of $105 475,49 despite grossing close to half a million in revenue from the match. A reported 38 787 people were in the stadium that has a capacity of 60 000.

In an interview with The Herald, Machana said the review committee came to a conclusion that the numbers in the records and those obtained on the ground did not tally. He added that 1 000 people were turned away at the gates after they were caught with fake tickets.

“Obviously, where corruption takes place, we stand fleeced.

“As a committee, we really felt that the 38 000 was not exactly the number of people that got in.

“That is why I gave the example of those 1 000 that were turned away, where did they go? I believe they eventually got into the stadium, by hook or crook,’’ said Machana.

“And, if you say they were holding $10 tickets, it then means $10 000 gone. So, we can’t rule out that we were fleeced,” said Machana.

ZIFA had announced that tickets were to be sold online, but they abandoned the system a few days before the match following a low uptake.

The move allowed an opportunity for dirty deals and Machana says the association has now banned bouncers at the future national team games as a way to curb the corruption.

“One biggest grey area we have picked is the use of bouncers as stewards.

“In fact, we picked up that a lot of corruption was happening through that kind of people and we had an incident when we caught one who had a booklet where people were coming in, take the ticket and he doesn’t tear them and will give to other people outside,” he added.